Port Everglades Receives International Recognition as Seatrade Insider's "Cruise Port of the Year"

Tuesday, November 30, 2010 2:22 PM

Port Everglades Receives International Recognition as Seatrade Insider's "Cruise Port of the Year"

Seatrade Insider, one of the world's foremost cruise industry trade publications, today named Port Everglades "Port of the Year" during the 2010 Seatrade Insider Cruise Awards ceremony at the historic l' Opera House in Nice, France. The awards ceremony marks the opening of the annual Seatrade Med Cruise Convention, which is taking place this year in nearby Cannes, France.

The accolade is awarded to a port authority or port management company that has made significant improvements to its handling facilities and cruise-tourism infrastructure over the past 12 months. Port Everglades competed for the award against the ports of ABP Southampton and Le Havre, France.

Port Everglades partnered with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) to build a modern 240,000-square-foot facility, Cruise Terminal 18, which is the largest single cruise ship terminal in the world and is the home for the largest cruise ships in the world, Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. Cruise Terminal 18's expansive yet efficient design for these Oasis-class ships simultaneously allows arriving guests to check-in for boarding while disembarking guests are gathering their luggage and being processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"Our unique partnership with Royal Caribbean began two years prior to the opening of the new cruise terminal when the Royal Caribbean staff approached the Port with their 'aspirational' goal of creating a cruise facility that would enable RCL guests to get from curbside to the ship within 15 minutes. We repeated our slogan, 'Bring it on,' and adopted Royal Caribbean's motto of 'Why Not.' Today, I am proud to report that our team is regularly surpassing this target and actually moving people through the terminal in under 10 minutes," says Port Everglades Director Phil Allen. "Royal Caribbean's 'aspirational' goal and passion for detail were the pivotal points of the Oasis experience at Port Everglades that generated a joint undertaking by a team of professionals who were committed to turning the 'What Ifs' into 'Why Nots.' "

Port Everglades was shortlisted by a panel of judges comprised of executives with experience in relevant areas, members of Seatrade Insider's global editorial team, cruise consultants, analysts and association experts from around the world.

Cruise industry expert Stewart Chiron, known worldwide as "The Cruise Guy®," said this in his nomination of Port Everglades for the Seatrade Insider award: "Port Everglades has become the world's pre-eminent cruise departure port in a very short period of time. It not only is home to the world's largest fleet of cruise ships and the world's largest cruise ships, but also built the world's largest cruise ship terminal. Unlike many ports, and a very impressive fact, Port Everglades must work with four local governments and municipalities, which is no easy feat, to accomplish its goals."

Port Everglades is the cruise ship capital of the world with more than 3.5 million passengers expected during 2011 and more homeported cruise ships than any cruise port worldwide. Fifteen cruise lines and more than 50 cruise ships sail from the South Florida seaport including: Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, Discovery Cruises, Holland America Line, ISE (Semester at Sea), MSC Cruises, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, ResidenSea, Royal Caribbean International, Silversea Cruises and the Yachts of Seabourn. The Port's ever-expanding fleet of cruise ships provides guests with an array of cruise vacation choices from the sunny Greater Fort Lauderdale area including everything from sampler-size day cruises to around-the-world cruises. Port Everglades, where the best cruise ships launch and the greatest getaways begin.